Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said on Tuesday he was convinced that Iran was leading a secret operation to build nuclear weapons and urged a greater international effort to prevent Tehran from succeeding.
”We are certain that the Iranians are engaged in a serious … clandestine operation to build up a non-conventional capacity,” Olmert said at a joint news conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel after a meeting.
Olmert said he was sharing information with other countries about Iran’s nuclear programme, and that no options should be forgotten in trying to prevent Iran from developing atomic weapons.
”As [US] President [George] Bush once said: ‘No option is ruled out’,” he said.
Israeli officials have said Olmert planned to press Merkel for stronger international pressure on Iran at the United Nations, where a new sanctions resolution has been drafted.
”This issue is mainly a challenge for the great powers,” Olmert said, speaking through a translator.
”We are very interested in coming to a solution that prevents the Iranians from continuing this programme,” he said, adding all diplomatic efforts to find a solution were welcome.
Last month, Germany joined the five permanent UN Security Council members — Britain, the United States, France, Russia and China — in circulating a proposal for a third sanctions resolution against Iran calling for mandatory travel bans, asset freezes and vigilance on all banks in Iran.
”I have always said that I believe strongly in a solution via diplomatic channels, that I count on a diplomatic solution and nothing else,” Merkel told the news conference.
Iran says it wants only to generate electricity so that it can export more oil and gas.
Pressure on Gaza
Turning to the situation in Gaza, Olmert said Israel would keep up pressure on militants but did not say whether Israel would broaden its operations by attacking Hamas leaders.
Israeli leaders have vowed to step up their war against Hamas, but Defence Minister Ehud Barak said earlier that a full-scale military campaign against Hamas in the Gaza Strip would not take place right away.
Militants in Gaza hit southern Israel daily with rockets and mortars, in what Hamas says is a response to Israeli attacks.
Israel has tightened economic sanctions in Gaza since Hamas seized control in June after routing Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’s secular Fatah faction. But Olmert is wary of launching a major ground offensive in the densely populated coastal territory for fear of heavy casualties on both sides.
Olmert reiterated that he would continue to pursue peace talks with Abbas and intended to meet him in next week, despite the ongoing violence along the Israeli-Gaza border. — Reuters